by Pauline Bleach

Created on: June 18, 2008   Last Updated: April 03, 2011

A new type of Battlefield - Obama Vs Mc Cain.

America is dead as a world power.

Can it be revived?

Diplomacy is the art of identification, something Barack Obama appears to excel in at times but falters at others. Is he worth the risk?

John Mc Cain, by looks alone, is identified with old America. The wounded bull that rampaged through the first years of the 21st Century with no thought of the damage it would leave behind.

This America is faltering on the edge of oblivion.

One of the more interesting side effects of 9/11 was that the seemingly stagnating pool of 45 countries that had ratified the International Criminal Court (ICC) was within a month, joined by 11 other countries that had been holding back their ratification because of American pressure. It became international law.

This signalled a new era. America would now also be held to account.

When George Bush tried to bring down the ICC by threatening to veto UN missions, I was attending a seminar on the ICC in Galway, Ireland.

One of the American participating speakers, aptly nickname Deep Throat by the members of our group, answered "They don't care", to many of the questions raised.

This lasted until the very last moment when the Irish presiding lecturer asked a very simple question.

"We, the International community, want the ICC. It's now International Law and we're going to keep it. But we're your allies and you've lined yourself up squarely against us. What can you do next Nuke Us'"?

Suddenly Deep Throat, shocked, seemed to care.

The Old 'Don't Care' America breathed its last.

The world has changed and America needs to get with the plan.

No longer can America control the world by arms or trade. China can and does easily bypass any attempt by the west to censor regimes.

It is unclear whether China will continue to pursue a policy of increased engagement after the all-important Olympics are over. Its continued support for oppressive regimes is withering away the many gains in prestige made during Bush's reign.

Reform in China may not come fast enough for it to rightfully gain its place on the world stage and the "Tibetan question" unsolved will drag at its heels.

China's weakness is America's opportunity.

America's only hope to revive their failed 'moment on the world stage' is to reinvent itself as a moral leader.

Globalisation is instrumental in forging a new place for ordinary people by allowing a previously incomprehensible amount of interaction and access to information. It is now possible to

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